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November 2012

- By Linda Orkin

This month the American Bird
Conservancy published the
first ever complete conservation
assessment that details
the status of the full diversity
of birds of the 50 states and
dependent territories. This
is an ambitious report, as it
includes subspecies with different
ranges and different
habitat requirements and
encourages consideration of
their conservation needs. If anyone is interested in accessing
this report, including an annotated checklist detailing
the amount of concern each bird warrants, you can
go to http://www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/releases/121018.html. More than one third of all species warrant
action for conservation. What is a surprise to me is
that it is only one third. Skyscraper and residential window
strikes, cell tower strikes, free roaming cats, conversion
of grasslands to commodity crops, long line snagging and
drowning, resource degradation along migratory routes,
deforestation of tropical forests and old growth temperate
forests, predator control on range lands, improperly
situated wind farms, the list of devastating threats to birds
seems to have no end. It is hard to imagine how the billions
of birds that are lost each year in our western hemisphere
alone do not result in a precipitous decline in all
species of birds across the board. Perhaps, it is too hard
to measure all the loss. Certainly, in a historical context,
since the industrialization of our landscape, the numbers
of individual birds must be significantly lower. Anecdotally,
we all notice the losses.

It can be totally paralyzing to think of the dangers birds
face in terms of how we can best serve them. An organization
like our bird club takes small steps in making a difference.
We organize one seminar a month at the Lab of
Ornithology, with presenters who range the gamut from
travelers with wonderful photos and stories to graduate
students with unique and informed perspectives on cutting
edge research to artistic people who remind us where
the birds’ niche in our souls is. We lead bird walks introducing
people to the often unnoticed lives swirling around
them. We participate in cleanups. We have funded, edited,
and released two wonderful books: “Native Plants
for Native Birds” and the “Guide to Birding in the Cayuga
Lake Basin.” We are a group of people for whom birds are
the gateway to the natural world that we want to save and
share with all.

We are embarking on a venture that is new to us, at least
in recent memory, the formation of a Conservation Action
Committee. It is being chaired by a woman who has been
involved in conservation initiatives in Tompkins County,
and she was introduced to you all in the last newsletter
and at the last meeting. Candace Cornell has many wonderful
ideas, and she and I are both very anxious to have an
enthusiastic group of people joining us in this endeavor. In
this newsletter you will find her report on the Unique Natural
Area meeting that she and I both attended last week. The
first meeting of the Conservation Acton Committee, CAC, will
be on November 17th at 7 PM at her house. Please do think
about coming to this with all of your good ideas and passion.
Conservation is one of the prongs of our mission statement;
it is a good time to focus on that.